Les travailleurs bangladeshi (document en anglais)

Bangladeshi workers receive overdue pay after police break hunger strike

This document is an article extracted from the website The guardian.com and entitled “Bangladeshi workers receive overdue pay after police break hunger strike”. It was published on August 11 2014.

The text is about the workers of garment industry in Bangladesh, and the problem of their wages. Indeed, it explains why Bangladesh workers receive their pay delayed.

The article is composed of several parts:

- The first one denounce, after 11 days hunger strike. Workers of five Bangladesh factories of garment (the Tuba Group) are finally paid. The Tuba Group manufactures Fifa-endorsed clothing for European companies and supplied orders for Walmart.

The settlement of their wages came after the CEO of the Tuba Group was bailed because he was in jail since February, for homicide and negligence.

- The strike began on June 10th after they did not receive their pay monthly of May, but the hunger strike began on June 28th to have their salary back. About 1,600 employees whose 1,300 women did this strike.

- Then the article relates that three labour leaders were arrested by police after they called the strike through the country until Tuba worker’s wages were settled.

The end of the hunger strike was the August 7th after the police used batons and pepper spray to disperse the strikers.

- Moreover the text describes the critic situation of workers especially women in the Bangladesh garment industry. In fact, most of them have become victims of exploitative wages. Because they come from the remote and rural parts of the south Asian country. However, in the garment industry they have a better living standard with a monthly minimum wage of £40 whereas women who work as a domestic helpers have wages low like £11 a month. The reason that why they are victim it is because they don’t know their right and the lack of leadership of them.

- To conclude the article the Bangladeshi government and industry leaders said there has been significant improvement in safety and workers’ rights in the garment factories.

And about 300 trade unions had been created but it continues to be low in the garment sector said Ian Spaulding, the alliance’s senior adviser.

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